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Scientists shocked after Harper government assigns IT staff to monitor ozone data

Mark Weber, an atmospheric scientist from the University of Bremen in Germany, explained he was shocked to learn Environment Canada was turning over management of an ozone monitoring centre to an “IT” guy. Photo courtesy of Mark Weber.

OTTAWA- Atmospheric scientists from around the world are asking Environment Canada to back down from a plan that they believe would compromise ozone and radiation monitoring by putting it into the hands of an Information Technology computer expert.

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 16 signing of the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty to reduce ozone-depleting pollution in the atmosphere, the scientists said they were shocked to learn about the budget cuts and staffing changes made by the Harper government.

The scientists said the monitoring was previously done with oversight from atmospheric experts who have been reassigned or have retired. But now, they say that the person in charge is the wrong type of expert.

“He’s an IT person,” said Mark Weber, an atmospheric scientist from Germany’s University of Bremen. “This is not just an IT problem. I think the person (assigned to manage the data) basically is not sufficiently qualified for doing such a job because he needs to have a much stronger scientific background.”

Weber and other scientists learned about the staffing changes during a discussion about the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre with Environment Canada officials at a recent conference in Toronto. The scientists warned the federal department that the move contradicts public statements made by Environment Minister Peter Kent and other senior officials pledging to continue ozone monitoring. The researchers believe the changes would jeopardize the quality of data required to monitor the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from harmful solar radiation.

Catharine Banic, a scientist and executive director of Environment Canada’s air quality research division, confirmed that the centre was now managed by a group specializing in data management. She said it is “working… to determine what needs to be done and how best to do it.”

She also explained, in an interview, that Environment Canada was “currently” providing scientific oversight and was not “anticipating that it would be reduced.”

She said the science and data management had “evolved” to the point where the department was able to have people working together to deliver a product in support of what she described as a highly complex science.

But Weber and other scientists said that although the people managing the centre were qualified to process data, they lacked the scientific expertise to recognize errors in the data that would be caught by atmospheric scientists with experience in measuring ozone.

In addition, they noted that Environment Canada no longer had a scientist assigned to run the Brewer instruments in Canada that are used to calibrate all of the other Brewer instruments around the world, for monitoring global ozone levels.

Christos Zerefos, an atmospheric scientist, based in Greece, who presides over an international committee of ozone researchers, said the monitoring was also essential to determine whether global warming is contributing to a recently-discovered hole in the ozone layer above the Arctic that may be reversing progress achieved to reduce pollution under the Montreal Protocol.

Zerefos, a member of the Academy of Athens, also warned that Canada was losing its leadership position after developing some of the core technology developed to monitor ozone.

“It’s a pity,” said Zerefos. “If… Canada will abandon an area that – both scientifically and also commercially – has been very fruitful for the country. You can see the Canadian flag, for example, in our instruments.”

Kent declined an interview request Friday to discuss ozone monitoring or the treaty’s anniversary. However, his office issued a public statement, praising Canada’s role in leading discussions that led to the Montreal Protocol.

“It is clear that this treaty is one of the best that has ever been written. One hundred and ninety-seven countries have now signed onto the Montreal Protocol,” Kent said in the statement.

“Canada has been a world leader in atmospheric ozone science for more than 50 years. Twenty-five years ago, we contributed key scientific information that laid the groundwork for the development of the Montreal Protocol and we have continued to play a key role in this field of research and restoration.”

Weber said he was not convinced that Canadian government officials want to maintain their efforts, suggesting that they were making public statements designed to make people believe they are doing the right thing.

“My feeling is that they have little interest in continuing monitoring, but because of so much outcry throughout the world and criticism, they stepped back… just to calm down the public,” he said.